So I was thinking : for an IIPA sort of beer, after dryhopping and whatnot, putting a single dry hop (my buddy grows some lovely fruity citrusy hops in his yard) in the bottle as it conditions. His objection was that it could add unwanted germs and whatnot to the brew, messing up the bottle conditioning, but I said if that were the case that would happen anytime **** is dryhopped. Your thoughts?

I'm no mighty expert, but I'm pretty sure the alcohol content will be high enough to kill off any tiny amount of bacteria that would hitch a ride on the hops. I believe the yeast will have more than a firm hold at that point.

Experts, correct me if I'm wrong about that...

-Tripod

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I would be more concerned about grassy and vegetal flavors imparted from the overly long contact time of the hops in the beer. I personnaly never dry hop for more than a week. If you had hops in the bottle through 3 weeks of bottle conditioning, then at least a week in the fridge, by the time the batch is all drank up, the last ones might be nasty as all get out!

But then who knows, it just might be great. Maybe try it with 2 or 3 bottles first, not a whole batch.

*edit: I also would assume that if it made great tasting beer, Stone or Dogfishhead would have done it by now......

Hops get a really nasty look after a couple weeks. I think duck droppings was one description.

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Speaking from experience, dry hoping in a bottle works, but you will have real gushers. Do it on a few bottles. I did it on 10 bottles of an English IPA, and I pop the top in the sink, let it gush, then pour it through a screen into a glass. Mine was very very vegetal. Like biting the into broccoli. Obviously you will risk bottle bombs. Let me know how it goes.

I agree, leaving the beer on the hops for more than a few weeks can lead to vegetal or grassy flavors. Personally, I wouldn't do it, but if you want to try it in a few bottles, go for it. I would make sure you cool them for a while before you open them to make sure you crash out all the hops though.

There's a thread on here about tossing a hop pellet into a glass when you drink it, and I've tried it, it was quite nice. Not sure how well it would work with a flower, but it might give you what you're loooking for.